BG74

I bought a beater '89 Accord to drive in the winter.

Is it OK to let the TL sit for 2-3 weeks at a time without starting and/or driving it? It's parked in my parents garage which is about 45 minutes from me, so it's not the easiest thing to go up there often. It's in a carport without doors...is there any reason to worry about mice, etc. building houses in it, or is it too cold for them during a CT winter?

ttliang

mine sit for more than 3 weeks without a start no problem. that's summer tho.

SilverUA5

You should at least start it up once a week so the battery won't get weak.

MichaelBenz

iTrader: (2)

You should be ok! Only worry...if you have Navi...at one time there was a concern about some type of constant battery drain that made peoples batteries dead in short time....but not too sure about that...never experienced it personally and I have Navi. Just read about it here sometime.

HiTEC

I used to store a couple cars for the winter. I didn't buy into the start it up every couple weeks philosophy. I followed this document from the Porsche club and never had a problem.

Read this link for some info
http://www.porschenet.com/winter.html

The main things I did were (this was for storage from October to April).

Wash and wax car
clean interior
topped gas tank with gas and added stabil
changed oil and filter before storage (ran car a little bit to mix in new oil)
hooked up a floating battery charger
covered car in my garage
inflated tires to 45psi all around

post storage
-drove car a bit, and changed oil and filter again
-set correct tire psi

I have three cars so mine sit all the time without touching them. You don't need to worry about the battery. If you plan to let it sit all winter, you can put some moth balls under your hood to keep away the mice. I suggest a good cover and a floating batter charger if you plan to store.

MichaelBenz

iTrader: (2)

Great advise! Excellent post man!

HiTEC

I figure if anyone knows how to store vehicles it's Porsche owners.

Brettg

Since most engine wear happens at cold start, its bad news to be starting a car up to charge the battery.
If you start it, it needs to get up to operating temps for a while to remove the unburnt gas and moisture.

I might start it if it sat a long time, to splash oil around, some say seals will dry out
if they sit dry for a long time, I would think modern seals would be better and not do that, but dont know for sure.
Honda products are not known for being oil leakers...

The solar chargers they sell are great to keep the battery up, if the car
gets some sun...

Brett

AMIC

I left my TL in the garage for over 3 weeks when I went on vacation and it was fine when I got back. Started up without a hitch. I left about 3/4 of a tank of gas in it and the temp was around 70-80 in the garage.

gt1

There are few more long term storage recomendations on Prosche page:
Then there is another one they forgot- stuff oily shop towels or wax paper into exhaust pipes and air filter intake.

But you don=t need any of this for 2-3 weeks. Just make sure that the car is dry, full of gas and more or less clean.

ITL

Put cardboard or scrap carpet between tires and concrete to prevent dry rotting.

Possibly disconnect battery to prevent drain on the charge.

Brettg

I dont know if I would use wd40 in the engine.
On old engines its likely fine, but there are chemicals out there that poison catalytic converters and ruin them.
WD40 is not something I would use on a car with cats....

Brett